[Sanspoof]

Whats the format for the source footage you’re using. This can happen if you’re importanting different flavors of mpeg… which I don’t think is supported in earlier versions of after effects.

not quite sure, I use 6.5

peace,
Michael

[Sanspoof]

What you need to do is create a garbage mask.

A garbage mask is a mask that loosly follows the actors or objects in a shot, thus eliminating unwanted footage in a greenscreen shot.

So, use a loose mask around your footage and animate it as well. When you are satisfied with the mask, then use keylight to pull your key.

Check out some of the tutorials on this site. I know I saw a garbage mask tutorial around here somewhere.

peace,
Michael

[Sanspoof]

Actually, If they are the exact same value, a better option would be setting it as a “hold” keyframe.

ctrl+alt+h

But either way you should be fine.

peace,
Michael

[Sanspoof]

If you’re really serious about the effect, Ryan Weber has done an incredible job with the effect(I forget if he’s credited as the creator or not), compiling it also into some easy to follow tutorials.

https://ryanw.michaelfrisk.com/ryan-w/tutorials.html

check it out. I garentee you won’t want to do a lightsaber any other way once you see the results.
peace,
Michael

[Sanspoof]

Okay, I think I got it this time, and it’s minimal hassle. This is just one way to do it.

Apply your text as a trackmatte to the video layer. Precompose these two layers. Outside the precomposed layer, in the main comp, place an exact copy of your text under the precomposed layer. Select the precomposed layer and apply simple choker effect to its alpha channel. By choking the video a bit, the outlines of your text behind the precomposed layer will show through.

This eliminates the hassle of messing with the text tracking and ect. You could now parent these two layers to a null layer, or copy the keyframes from one to the other.

This is just one of the ways you could do this. Hope I could help a little.

peace,
Michael

[Sanspoof]

Duh, there’s no need to motion track… my mind is failing me. Just use the same position keyframes from the trackmatted layer for the text layer.

Might have to mess with the tracking for both text layers to get it to line up properly.

goodness, sorry.
peace,
Michael

[Sanspoof]

Well you could always motion track another text layer with only the outlines over the trackmatted footage. But there’s probably a better way than that. ~~for some reason I can’t figure out how to hide the fill to just show the outlines, but I guess the solution is to place it behind the trackmatted footage instead and increasing the font size.

Any one else have ideassss? I’ll let you know if I figure out a different way… doubtful though.

peace,
Michael

[Sanspoof]

When you say arrow, you mean half of the keyframe is vertical and the other half is normal (half of the original diamond) therefore looking like an arrow?

Well if that’s the case: the arrow keyframe is called a ‘hold’ keyframe. That means instead of smoothly interpolating/animating from one value to the next, the values instantly jump once they hit the hold keyframe in the timeline.

This is a good question to delve deeper into by poking around the adobe online help page to learn about all the different keyframe types… cause they all come in handy.

peace,
Michael

[Sanspoof]

Is it a zoomed in or out really far issue? By making sure the moniter window is active and scrolling the mouse wheel will make the preview scale.

peace,
Michael

[Sanspoof]

It will run it just fine, cause your specs seem a lot better than mine… cept for the graphics card.

Just make sure if you’re doing a lot of editing to have a big hardrive(s) I have 180 gigs and I am gasping for air!!!

I have a:

nforce 2 mobo
athlon xp 2600+ (about 2 ghz…in amd numbers, as in intel numbering system is different therefore intel has higher numbers)
1 gig of pc2700 ddr ram
128mb geforce 6600gt
2 – 7200 rpm hardrives that add up to 180 gigs

My setup is starting to get dated, but it does what I want just fine.
peace,
Michael